Volleyball

In 1895, in Holyoke, Massachusetts (USA), William G. Morgan, a physical education director, created a new game called mintonette as a pastime to be played preferably indoors and by any number of players. The game took some of its characteristics from tennis and handball. Another indoor sport, basketball, was catching on in the area, having been invented just ten miles (sixteen kilometers) away in the city of Springfield, Massachusetts, only four years before. Mintonette was designed to be an indoor sport less rough than basketball and still requiring a bit of athletic effort.

The game quickly became known as volleyball. The first country outside the United States to adopt volleyball was Canada in 1900. An international federation of volleyball (FIVB), was founded in 1947, and the first World Championships were held in 1949 for men and 1952 for women. The sport is now popular in Brazil, in Europe (where especially Italy, the Netherlands, and countries from Eastern Europe have been major forces since the late 1980s), in Russia, and in other countries including China and the rest of Asia, as well in as the United States.

The history of Olympic volleyball can be traced back to the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, where volleyball was played as part of an American sports demonstration event. The Olympic volleyball tournament was originally a simple competition, whose format paralleled the one still employed in the World Cup: all teams played against each other team and then were ranked by wins, set average, and point average. One disadvantage of this round-robin system is that medal winners could be determined before the end of the games, making the audience lose interest in the outcome of the remaining matches. To cope with this situation, the competition was split into two phases with the addition of a "final round" elimination tournament consisting of quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals matches in 1972.

The number of teams involved in the Olympic tournament has grown steadily since 1964.

Beach volleyball, a variation of the game played on sand and with only two players per team, became a FIVB-endorsed variation in 1987 and was added to the Olympic program at the 1996 Summer Olympics.

Tasks:

I. Practise the pronunciation of the proper nouns, transcribe the words:

Holyoke, Massachusetts, Mintonette, Springfield, the Netherlands, Eastern Europe, Russia, China, Asia, Brazil, Paris.

II. Translate the words in the brackets:

1. William G. Morgan (создал) a new game called mintonette.

2. The game quickly became (известный) as volleyball.

3. The first World Championships (проводились) in 1949 for men and 1952 for women.

4. Beach volleyball is a (разновидность) of the game played on sand.

5. Beach volleyball (был добавлен) to the Olympic program at the 1996 Summer Olympics.

III. Explain the meaning of the following:

· an American sport demonstration event;

· the round-robin system;

· pastime;

· a “final round” elimination tournament;

· the medal winners;

· a FIVB-endorsed variation of the game.

IV. Make sentences from the words. Put them in a right order. Explain the structure of the formed English sentences:

1. volleyball, outside, the, was, to adopt, in, country, the United States, first Canada, 1900.

2. training, the, nature, exhibition, game, at, its, played, of, the, at, first, was, International, the, volleying, School.

3. took, the, some, and, characteristics, from, game, tennis, of, its, handball.

V. Put the verbs in Passive voice and translate the sentences:

1. Mintonette (to design) to be an indoor sport less rough than basketball.

2. The game (to require) a bit of athletic effort.

3. The competition (to split) into two phases with the addition of a "final round" elimination tournament.

4. Volleyball (to play) as part of an American sports demonstration event.

5. The great number of volleyball teams (to involve) in the Olympic tournament.

VI. Prove that the statements are wrong:

1. Beach volleyball is an indoor game.

2. The forerunners of volleyball are tennis and football.

3. Volleyball was invented in Europe.

4. Volleyball is more brutal that basketball.

5. The round-robin system has no disadvantages.

6. Volleyball is still not included to the Olympic program.

7. The International federation of volleyball was founded before the World War II.

8. Volleyball is more popular in the USA than in any other country of the world.

Дата добавления: 2015-08-03